Industrial funding for R&D in science and engineering (S&E) fields at universities and colleges dropped 2.6% in FY2004, to $2.1 billion. This was the third year in a row that industry funding declined, having dropped 1.1% in 2003 and 1.5% in 2002. According to the NSF InfoBrief, "the industrial sector is the first source of academic R&D funding to show a multiyear decline since the survey began, in FY 1953.